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March 29, 2024, 01:22:44 PM

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Meat substitutes

Started by holyzombiejesus, February 17, 2021, 03:51:24 PM

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Norton Canes

All from Sainsbo's, these are really good fried up with some rice or noodles or in a flatbread:





Had one of these with a peppercorn sauce the other day - not gonna fool any meat-eaters but really nice:



And these chicken-style pieces are great cold as a snack or in a sarnie:




Gurke and Hare

Quote from: Shoulders?-Stomach! on February 18, 2021, 01:23:06 PM
Hardly the threshold whereby a sausage roll becomes good. Just pointing out that average quality has slipped far below acceptable standards, seemingly dragging the public's expectations with it.

I remember some beautiful efforts at a local, totally run of the mill bakery growing up, only cost 35p a roll. That set the benchmark. If I hadn't seen such riches...

The memory cheats, and the average sausage roll has always been made with whatever they could scoop up from the floor of the abbatoir.

Making this on topic, I've heard good things about Birds Eye's frozen vegan non-meatballs. I've got some in the freezer but I haven't got round to trying them yet.

Sebastian Cobb

Quote from: Norton Canes on February 18, 2021, 01:50:18 PM
All from Sainsbo's, these are really good fried up with some rice or noodles or in a flatbread:






When getting bits for this, which is excellent, I noticed asda do tofu paneer now. https://www.theguardian.com/food/2019/apr/20/meera-sodha-recipe-tofu-sweet-soy-greens-kecap-manis

I used to have those but now I just make a shitload of this and bake it in individual portions, lasts about a week for lunches.

https://mygoodnesskitchen.com/vegan-shawarma-roast-jackfruit/

I've been switching chicken for paneer in some things, so would be interested. It's a pity some of these substitutes come in big portions, I could probably ditch things like cream and yoghurt but dairy comes in small portions I can freeze, vegan or dairy, if I'm buying stuff by the pint it'll probably end up in the back of the fridge and furry.

Elderly Sumo Prophecy


Norton Canes

Oh seitan, oh seitan, oh seitan

The Mollusk

Quote from: Sebastian Cobb on February 18, 2021, 02:20:00 PM
When getting bits for this, which is excellent, I noticed asda do tofu paneer now. https://www.theguardian.com/food/2019/apr/20/meera-sodha-recipe-tofu-sweet-soy-greens-kecap-manis

I used to have those but now I just make a shitload of this and bake it in individual portions, lasts about a week for lunches.

https://mygoodnesskitchen.com/vegan-shawarma-roast-jackfruit/

I've been switching chicken for paneer in some things, so would be interested. It's a pity some of these substitutes come in big portions, I could probably ditch things like cream and yoghurt but dairy comes in small portions I can freeze, vegan or dairy, if I'm buying stuff by the pint it'll probably end up in the back of the fridge and furry.

How's the tofu paneer taste? My partner fuckin adores paneer but since we went vegan she's extremely wary of substitutes and would rather go without than risk being let down by a plant-based alternative.

Sebastian Cobb

Quote from: The Mollusk on February 18, 2021, 04:59:13 PM
How's the tofu paneer taste? My partner fuckin adores paneer but since we went vegan she's extremely wary of substitutes and would rather go without than risk being let down by a plant-based alternative.

Dunno, I was kind of asking myself in a very roundabout way.

Shoulders?-Stomach!

Quote from: Gurke and Hare on February 18, 2021, 01:53:51 PM
The memory cheats, and the average sausage roll has always been made with whatever they could scoop up from the floor of the abbatoir.

Yes, right, all sausage rolls are the same, well done, you win.

Sebastian Cobb

It's fair to say that most sausages are basically just lips and arseholes, but there's certainly a technique, we know this because cheap sausage rolls and the cheap sausages you get in greasy spoons fry ups are good in their own way but Richmond sausages are somehow worse.

flotemysost

Quote from: thugler on February 18, 2021, 10:12:03 AM
Haha! It's really not that hard. You can buy the gluten online and have it delivered. It's pretty cheap. Takes about 20-30 minutes to make a huge amount, you can make it into steaks and put them in the freezer. I use this recipe modified a bit to my preferences.

https://itdoesnttastelikechicken.com/vegan-seitan-steak/

It's not as complicated as making bread, once it's done it fries nicely and has a meaty flavour, the texture is more chewy.

A former flatmate of mine (who was Spanish and one of the most hardcore carnivores I've lived with) tried this - ended up with mountains of the stuff and it was really nice, and very convincingly meat-like. After every mouthful he'd shake his head in disbelief and mutter "I don't get it".

Quote from: pancreas on February 18, 2021, 01:16:11 PM
engorged Quorn phalli

For balance, there's always these



As if the name wasn't offputting enough there's something quite disconcerting about the proximity of cleaver-wielding Art Nouveau woman there.

Bence Fekete

I'd be happy to at least try transitioning to some of this stuff if it doesn't trigger my ibs or bleedin' anus. Anything like one or two days meat-free would be a phenomenal success story for this lazy lifetime carnie. But threads like this make me think it's at least possible.

I'll try a Shawarmamama I think - that looks easy and possibly even tasty. If that doesn't work I'm never trying anything ever again and it's all your fault.

The Ombudsman

Quote from: flotemysost on February 18, 2021, 09:38:34 PM

For balance, there's always these



As if the name wasn't offputting enough there's something quite disconcerting about the proximity of cleaver-wielding Art Nouveau woman there.

How very odd, spurred on by this thread I bought some untried new veggie bits yesterday and these were one of them. Will give them a go tonight.

JaDanketies

My favourites ever were Fry's hot dogs, but they don't seem to exist any more. Nor do any other vegan hot dogs.

At least they haven't existed for months at the local Tesco or the local hipster food shop. I've not checked Amazon.

dissolute ocelot

Quote from: Angrew Lloyg Wegger on February 18, 2021, 12:35:08 AM
I've always fancied trying seitan but you have to go all the way to Holland and Barrett to get the vital wheat gluten and then physically make the stuff yourself. That's almost as much work as actually physically killing an animal myself. No thank you, if you want me to be ethical then please do all the work for me Mr Tesco
I've seen seitan in strange places, including Asda, healthfood/wholefood stores, and Chinese supermarkets. It's sometimes available in tins, sometimes frozen, sometimes in chillers, sometimes marketed as fake duck (although not all fake duck is seitan), although it's still not very common. It is texturally different to most meat substitutes, but again doesn't actually taste of anything (although it seems commonly sold with flavouring).

Deep fried tofu puffs are also good, if you stumble upon any (fluffy and light with lots of holes, totally different texturally to regular tofu, and tasting of grease) - also related is amuraage, Japanese fried tofu skins, which are again like slightly bland grease, but you could say the same about chips. All can be stuffed or put in soups.

re jackfruit: it's nice in pulled jackfruit which you make by cooking it in barbecue sauce with onions for about an hour, but it has a weird mouthfeel in curries, a bit like artichoke hearts but not as nice.

Mentioning terrible vegan substitutes, vegan feta is hilariously bad, more like cubes of coconut flesh than anything cheesy. Vegan cheese is really not as good as vegan meat.

JaDanketies

Quote from: dissolute ocelot on February 19, 2021, 09:48:43 AM
Mentioning terrible vegan substitutes, vegan feta is hilariously bad, more like cubes of coconut flesh than anything cheesy. Vegan cheese is really not as good as vegan meat.

I like the Tesco vegan feta. It's hard for vegan cheeses to emulate real cheese properly but the Tesco feta is nice in a salad.

Biggest problem with vegan cheese, once you get used to them or forget what dairy cheese is like, is that they are a nutritional void. Dairy cheese is at least a source of protein, vitamins and minerals. Vegan cheese is just bad fat.

The Mollusk

Quote from: Sebastian Cobb on February 18, 2021, 08:00:05 PM
It's fair to say that most sausages are basically just lips and arseholes

Is it fair to say that most sausages have been around my lips and arsehole? Yeah, I reckon it is.

pancreas

Quote from: The Mollusk on February 19, 2021, 10:09:44 AM
Is it fair to say that most sausages have been around my lips and arsehole? Yeah, I reckon it is.

That must be quite a burden.

Icehaven


Pink Gregory

Quote from: JaDanketies on February 19, 2021, 08:54:05 AM
My favourites ever were Fry's hot dogs, but they don't seem to exist any more. Nor do any other vegan hot dogs.

At least they haven't existed for months at the local Tesco or the local hipster food shop. I've not checked Amazon.

Sainsburys, in the fresh plant based bit.

Norton Canes

Yeah they have these ones which are really good




Also some different brand ones that are a sickly green colour, I haven't tried those.

JaDanketies


sovietrussia

Two meaty thumbs up for Richmond's sausages (a perfect breakfast sausage).  Also this house is all about the Vivera kebab range, especially after a few drinks on a Friday night - we treat ourselves and eat them in front of the telly.  They are great in a wrap with humous, big salad and spicy sauces.

I will tentatively also recommend "THIS...Isn't Bacon" as the most realistic, yet oddly peculiar, rasher for a breakfast roll.  However *trigger warning* the packaging, website etc contains the most awful, hipster infantilism and I want to give the two beards running it a big, wet, floury slap.

thugler

Had a 'beyond meat' pack of 2 sausages the other day to give them a try. A like expensive for just 2 bangers, but probably the closest to the real thing I've had. Some amount of fat comes out of them. Not seen their burgers about yet, but they are allegedly able to fool many into thinking they're meat.

Cuellar

I like Beyond Meat burgers. Also get Naked Glory(?) ones some times, they're good n all.

Had some fake bacon delivered with our milk a few weeks ago, can't remember the brand but it's through Milk & More. Weird looking, but they taste all smokey like smoked bacon and were alright actually chopped up and put in a carbonara. As a 'bacon' sandwich they were a bit weird but not terrible.

JaDanketies

The 'Wicked Kitchen' range (exclusive to Tesco) is fucking wank.

gib

Quote from: The Ombudsman on February 19, 2021, 08:47:11 AM
How very odd, spurred on by this thread I bought some untried new veggie bits yesterday and these were one of them. Will give them a go tonight.

Where do you get them?

gib

Quote from: JaDanketies on February 19, 2021, 08:54:05 AM
My favourites ever were Fry's hot dogs, but they don't seem to exist any more. Nor do any other vegan hot dogs.

At least they haven't existed for months at the local Tesco or the local hipster food shop. I've not checked Amazon.

You can still get Fry's hotdogs. Tesco or Sainsbo's.

Shoulders?-Stomach!

Quotere jackfruit: it's nice in pulled jackfruit which you make by cooking it in barbecue sauce with onions for about an hour, but it has a weird mouthfeel in curries, a bit like artichoke hearts but not as nice.

The stringiness from preparing it 'pulled' is pretty convincing. Good in wraps, etc.

I get what you mean with it in more whole chunks in curries, it can become quite soft but that seems a little harsh. There's still some bit to it. I guess the way around that is to not cook or marinate it for too long, include a variety of different textures rather than making it too dominant. The one I had recently had plenty from the chickpeas, spinach, shallots, diced carrot, cardomom pods (and rice, obvs).

If it's vegan fodder, it adds another layer of interesting you can't get with having chickpeas or beans as the primary object.

greencalx

My son decided to stop eating meat a couple of weeks into the first lockdown (after I'd toured miles of empty aisles in an effort to stock the freezer with stuff he would reliably eat). Since my wife was already veggie that leaves me as the sole carnivore in the household, and I hardly eat any now either.

We seem to have settled on Plant Pioneers Ultimate burgers (despite the name, they don't actually kill you), Linda McCartney's balls (for some reason she always seems to slip an extra one in, though that's not the main selling point) and Cauldron Cumberland sausages.